The pop saltbush is one of the large group of Chenopods found throughout Fowlers Gap and indeed Australia. The pop saltbush is a low-growing saltbush that really only flourishes after winter rain, remaining dormant (or dead) for the rest of the year.

Pop saltbushes are small herbaceous scurfy plants generally growing less than 20 cm high. The fruits can be bright red to bright pink (as in this example) as well as yellow or green.

Bark: scurfy.
Leaves: entire or shallowly lobed, broadly ovate, up to 50 mm long, tapering to a stalk about half as long.
Flowers: small.
Fruit: spongy, inflated, globular, 8-12 mm diameter, rounded at top with a tiny open beak, tapering to a pointed or rounded base. Pale green, straw or pinkish coloured with a veined or crinkled surface.
Source: Phillip Moore (2005). A guide to plants of inland Australia. Reed New Holland, ISBN 1 876334 86 X.
Photos: Ian Roach

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